[I]t was ObamaCare that already changed Medicare as we know it, transforming it literally into a death trap for seniors. ObamaCare slashed Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals by $1 trillion over the next 10 years alone, according to the latest CBO projections, besides the cuts to Medicare Advantage…

Effectively refusing to pay the doctors and hospitals that provide the medical care Medicare promises to seniors is no way to solve Medicare’s financing problems…This is like trying to achieve budget savings in national defense by not paying the manufacturers of the Air Force’s planes, the Navy’s ships, the Army’s tanks and artillery, and the bullets, bombs and guns.

Think of it this way. You wouldn’t try to balance your own family budget by just refusing to pay your bills, particularly for goods and services you planned to continue to consume. You would recognize that is really just stealing. Instead, you would either cut back on your purchases, or find ways to increase your income…

Contrary to the childish silliness of Wasserman Schulz and Carney, Ryan’s Medicare reforms would simply extend the popular and successful policies of Medicare Parts D and C to Medicare Parts B and A.

Comments (9)

CBO projections, under the Bowles-Simpson Commission endorsed by Obama in 2010 found that those Medicare spending cuts are misleading.

“Under its extended-baseline scenario, CBO projects that federal health care spending for Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the health insurance exchange subsidies will grow from nearly 6 percent of GDP in 2010 to about 10 percent in 2035, and continue to grow thereafter.
These projections likely understate true amount, because they count on large phantom savings – from a scheduled 23 percent cut in Medicare physician payments that will never occur and from long-term care premiums in an unsustainable program..”

The decrease in prmeuim rates has nothing to do with healthcare reform. A stagnant economy and no increase in SS payments the last few years has forced many seniors to simply not fill their prescriptions. Less scripts filled equals less in prmeuims. Giving that boondogle Obamacare the credit for reducing prmeuims is inacurate and foolish.